A New BABY!!

We are so excited to let everyone know that we are going to be parents in August!

We look forward to the adventures that this new opportunity will bring.

We surprised our families with the news on Christmas. We told Ben's parents to save a spot for us in their "Grandchildren Brag Book." We gave my parents a webcam and a note that read:
"This gift will help you keep an eye on your fifth grandchild when he or she comes in AUGUST."

The reaction was way more than we expected. The video is priceless:

Birthday Celebrations

Ben turned 25.

And about 25 people showed up to his birthday party.

This truly made him feel loved. Thanks to all of our great friends who came to celebrate with us!

I was really worried that we would not be able to fit everyone that RSVP-ed into our tiny apartment, but we did it and it was such a success! And since the majority of our guests happened to be Vocal Point members, it definitely got loud and crazy. The evening included snacks and birthday cake, a rousing game of "Catch Phrase," and of course memorable sing-alongs of Vocal Point songs. And with that much talent crammed into one tiny apartment, "Happy Birthday to Ben" was definitely a performance:

Reflecting on the evening, we were once again reminded of how wonderful it is to have such good friends. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many awesome people who inspire us to be better.

And I am so blessed to have my best friend with me for eternity. I love you, Sweetheart!

Happy Birthday.

Christmas Cowboy

Ben is a bass. He can sing some very low notes and it is beautiful.

When we first moved into our ward, he quickly caught the attention of Miss Janie Thompson, a legend at BYU (there is a giant portrait of her in the HFAC). She is 89 years old and has a magnificent history: she is the original founder of the Young Ambassadors and Living Legends performing groups at BYU, as well as being involved in countless other achievements and accomplishments. This woman knows her stuff and has performed with and trained the best of the best.She got really excited when she heard Ben read a quote in Sunday School and even interrupted the lesson to say, "What an amazing bass voice!" (Which is funny because Ben's speaking voice is not that low...) and invited him to come to choir. Then when he let slip that he is a former member of Vocal Point, she fell in love. Literally. She dotes on him like crazy!

She directs our ward choir, often having us sing things that are very advanced and complicated (not just simple hymn arrangements), many of them ones that she herself has arranged and/or composed. They are actually quite amazing and uplifting.

She also conducts the ward's annual Christmas show, which is quite a production. The youth and primary children perform numbers that she has written and choreographed and she accompanies all of them on the piano and leads the caroling (again, not just simple carols but complicated arrangements).

This year she pulled out a song that she wrote called "Cowboy Christmas" and had us over a few times so she could coach Ben. This song is funny because Ben sings about all of the "cowboy" things he likes to do. She thinks it is pretty cute. But what we find absolutely hilarious is that it has nothing to do with Christmas, except for a random line that she throws in at the end where he wants to "wish a very Merry Christmas to you." It got a lot of laughs at the ward Christmas party and Janie was glowing with pride.

She also wrote another ending to the song so that he doesn't have to sing it just at Christmas time. So Ben's talent has stolen the heart of another lovely lady and we now have the sheet music to a Janie Thompson original (in her own handwriting, too) and sweet memories of a great experience with a great lady.

Party, Pirates, Pizza, and Puckers

For Ben's birthday my parents took us all out to dinner (thanks Mom and Dad!) and Ben decided he wanted to go to Pirate Island Pizza. It is kind of like a Pirate-themed Chuck-E-Cheese with a dark atmosphere that makes you feel like you are in a bog with a giant Pirate ship that periodically shoots off smoke from the cannons and flashes lightning. The servers are all dressed like pirates and Ben and I saw a Jack Sparrow character bussing tables that was absolutely hilarious!

The menu items all have funny pirate names (each type of pizza is named after a ship) and the kids get pirate hats and a balloon person comes around and makes pirate swords for them. We actually got Marcus and Ian to try eating some lemons. Ian's face is classic:

It was a fun night out with the family. Happy Birthday Ben!

Happy Birthday, Ben!

Ben reached a milestone today. He is now officially a quarter of a century old!

We didn't do much today to celebrate because his party is next week, but something really exciting did happen. After an awesome summer in San Antonio, doing an internship that he absolutely loved, Ben was offered a full-time position at USAA. We have spent the last couple of months deciding whether to accept, looking at the pros and cons.

Pros: the security of having a job right out of college, a great company, great pay, excellent benefits, doing work that he enjoys, the possibility of getting his MBA at the University of Texas San Antonio, very low cost of living and great housing market, which leads to a realistic dream of being homeowners much sooner than expected!

Cons: being very far away from family, missing the mountains and the snow, extremely hot summers

Obviously, the pros won out and Ben officially accepted the offer today and is so incredibly excited! I couldn't be prouder of him.

So in June we start the next chapter of our lives in San Antonio, Texas!

Christmas Carols

Ben is so talented and such an amazing bass, many of his friends often ask him to sing at different events as part of a quartet or group number.

So Ben was asked to sing a few Christmas carols at a fancy dinner for the BYU Law School faculty and staff at the Skyroom restaurant in the WILK. Lucky for me, I got to go along and enjoy an amazing dinner and get some video of these amazing singers:

Silver Bells

Danny Boy

White Christmas
Ben had a lot of fun doing this one because he got a solo, which doesn't often happen for the bass.

Silent Night

Blue vs Red

BYU had a spectacular victory over Utah tonight. We were so excited for this game. We were in the north end zone, right behind the uprights, on the 9th row. So we got to see some pretty spectacular touchdowns and we were lucky enough to be on the end that they played Overtime in. To see the winning touchdown in overtime, watch this youtube video.

Final score:
BYU 26, Utah 23
(I was too chicken to storm the field, but we got this awesome picture!)

What a great way to end the season. Oh how we love those victories over our rivals up north!

Giving Thanks

We gathered with the Henry family for Thanksgiving this year. My parents gave us a TON of apples off their tree in the backyard, so I made two apple pies and some apple dip. This is the best apple dip ever. Seriously.

Everyone always wants to know what I am thankful for, and as I think of how to word my response, I stumble. How can I possibly list all of the things that I am grateful for? If you want to know just one thing, how do I pick which thing I am grateful for the most?

So to try to answer this question, here is a small list of a few of the things that I am grateful for (I've tried to put them in order, but the first few are all my number ones):
-Ben. Oh how wonderful he is. He loves me so much and always tells me so.
-My Savior, Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement.
-My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-My loving and supportive family (including in-laws).
-Friends near and far.
-A college degree and a job that I enjoy.
-A beautiful apartment to come home to.
-A nice car that gets us where we need to go.
-I always have food in my tummy. I have never gone hungry.
-A strong, healthy body and mind.
-Warm (and cute) clothes to keep me warm.

Obviously, there are many more things that could go into this list. What are you thankful for?

Mouth-Watering FHE

We had FHE with Lauren and David tonight. I think everyone liked it:

(Add about 50 million more people and a drive-thru line a mile and a half long.)

Ben- 2x4 animal style and choc/vanilla swirl shake
Vanessa- cheeseburger animal style and chocolate shake
David- 3x3 animal style, extra toast and Neapolitan shake
Lauren- cheeseburger animal style, extra toast and vanilla shake
share some regular fries and animal style fries

Being true California girls, Lauren and I grew up with these delectable creations of pure fresh deliciousness. It has been so long, we had forgotten how amazing they are. We reveled in the self-indulgence tonight and had a lot of fun looking up the "secret menu" online to make plans for what we will try next time.

Some of you are seriously wondering what all the fuss is about. This really is not "just a hamburger." Their meat is FRESH, literally never frozen. They include FRESH, CRISPY vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. The buns aren't smashed to a pulp. The french fries are cut FRESH from a potato right in front of your eyes.

Really, can you get that at McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's?
You cannot.

So to all you fellow In-N-Out lovers out there: the day we've been waiting for is finally here!
Happy Eating!

Behold, your little ones...

Ben and I teach the CTR 7 class in our ward. Every other week, we struggle with keeping these 6 and 7 year olds entertained while trying to teach them important gospel topics.

Last week we had the Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting and my impatience with the chaos reminded me of why I am not an elementary school teacher. I can't handle that many little ones at the same time. (Although sometimes my freshman Algebra 1 classes aren't much better...)

So as we approached another weekend and I pulled out the lesson manual to start preparing, I was filled with anxiety again. What should we do to keep this particular lesson entertaining? How do we control the crazy boys that run around, hit each other, and won't calm down? How do we invite the Spirit into that atmosphere? My anxiety led me to feel a strong dislike for these kids.

Oh the humbling experience that I had as we entered the Primary room today. I walked in thinking, "Just get through the next two hours and then you don't have to do this again for another two weeks." (We actually team teach with another couple so that we can still attend Priesthood/RS every other week.) I couldn't help but smile back when the kids greeted me with huge smiles on their faces. My feelings of dislike melted away when one of our cute little girls sidled up next to me. I told her that I loved her pink dress and that pink is my favorite color. She whispered, "It's my favorite too." A few minutes later, she took took my arm and wrapped it around her waist and cuddled me through the rest of sharing time.

I asked the Primary President after church if she knew the reason behind this behavior. I was told that this girl's mother had a baby last week and she was probably just looking for a little extra love and attention. This made me realize that my real calling is not to teach a lesson but to love little children with a perfect love (Moroni 8:17).

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Matt 18:10

My (Not-So-)Secret Love Affair

Those that really know me know that I am secretly in love with this sexy man. Of course he is no competition to Ben, but I heard this new song on the radio yesterday and was euphorically happy the rest of the day:

Avid Reader

I came home from work today to find this:Obviously, this book was riveting.

Friendship

Last night Ben and I attended a 138th Ward Family Reunion. We are so glad we went. We were able to reconnect with old friends that we haven't seen in a long time. It was so fun to chat and laugh and see who is married and who has babies. I didn't realize until last night the strength of the friendships that we made in our BYU student singles ward.

I doubt that there are very many student singles wards that can get together every couple of years and have a "family reunion." Bishop Klein really fostered a feeling of family in our ward, and it has blessed all of us. Bishop said something last night that I have been pondering. He said that it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has brought us all together.I want to share my feelings and a small testimony on this thought. We all must travel different paths through this life, because we all have a different job to do. But how wonderful it is to know that if we keep the commandments and strive to follow the Savior, all of our paths will eventually lead back to Him. Last night I had a small glimpse of what I think it will be like when we are reunited after this life as brothers and sisters of our Heavenly Father.

To my friends:
Despite the fact that I may not see or talk to some of you very often, I still like to think that we are good friends. I hope you know that I love you. I have loved the fun times we have had together and I look forward to every opportunity that we have to be together in the future. But if those moments are far and few between, know that I am still thinking about you.

Witchapalooza!

Every year Gardner Village in Murray decks out in all witch-themed Halloween decorations. They put on a dinner-theatre show that is a lot of fun. They usually take well-known songs and change the words to match the storyline. My parents went last year and thought it was a lot of fun, so they took us with them this year.

Before the show starts, the witches come around to the tables and get to know the audience. One witch in particular took a liking to Ben and asked him to meet her outside at a certain point in the show. This is the fun that ensued after Ben met her out in the lobby:

Ben was totally in his element. We all had so much fun and the food was delicious. It was really fun to wander around the village and window shop (I LOVE the Christmas Shoppe) and get in the mood for Halloween. There were quite a few women there dressed up as witches. It is a pretty popular place to be in October. Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun night out with the family!

Encore!

Ben was asked to sing with Vocal Point for a performance for Parents' Weekend. The new members of the group do not know the songs well enough yet to perform them, so they asked last year's group to sing. Unfortunately, Scott had other obligations so the picture of the group is not complete. But it was so fun to get some close up shots of Ben and get this great video of their small group number, "Cool For You", which really shows off Ben's amazing talent as a bass.

Ben's experience in Vocal Point has been one that we both have enjoyed. He will miss the camaraderie of a "band of brothers" that he can spend time with, and I will miss hearing him sing, watching him perform, and the close associations with the other members and their wives. The friendships that we have made through Vocal Point are priceless and we will cherish them forever.

Take 6 Concert

For a last summer fling on Memorial Day, we attended the Take 6 concert.

Take 6 is a professional (and one of the original) A' Cappella groups. They started over 20 years ago, and have been nominated for and received multiple awards. Ben was really excited for this and we were not disappointed.The show was at the Scera Outdoor theater, and once the sun went down it got a little chilly. Of course, after an entire summer in San Antonio where it was still 80 degrees and humid at night, neither of us thought about bringing jackets. It was a good excuse to cuddle though. :)The show opened with David Osmond and I really liked him. Great voice, and you could tell that he is a great guy.

Take 6 is absolutely AMAZING! They sang some well-known favorites from different eras, as well as some of their own originals. Having experience with a'cappella, Ben was able to appreciate some of the music that they sang more than I was, but we were both entertained. We were especially blown away by the bass. Ben asked me afterward if that is what he sounds like when he sings on stage. His face lit up when I told him he does. Here is a sampling of what we heard:

(If you didn't catch it, when the lead started going crazy with the Michael Jackson moves, the bass stopped him and pointed out that they were in Utah...)

Rise and Shout...

"O Rise, all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.

A historic moment in BYU football history:

Our BYU Cougars take on #3 Oklahoma University in the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.

Loyal, Strong, and True
Wear the White and Blue.While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars, it's up to you!

We were excited to have friends over for the first time and to watch the big game on our new 32" flat panel TV.

O Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out
Along the trail to fame and glory.Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,
As you unfold your vict'ry story.

And they pull off a spectacular 14-13 victory!!!

On you go to vanquish the foe
For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue,
And cheer the Cougars of BYU."

The city of Provo came alive tonight as we celebrated our glorious win. Crazy college students drove around the streets honking and yelling and we had to get in on this action. We went outside on the corner and contributed to the cheering and yelling and Ben made sure that we captured this historic moment on video:
(This video is kind of long. Please don't feel obligated to watch the whole thing.)

Oh how we love these magical moments and our fabulous Cougars! :)

Wedding Bells

Lauren and David were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple today. The morning started off a little bumpy, but by the time they "tied the knot" everything was great! We had a luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and ate the most delicious chicken. The reception at Mom and Dad's house was beautiful and thank goodness for loving neighbors and friends who are so willing to come over and take care of all the background stuff! They helped set up the decorations and stayed the whole night to serve the food.

We got to spend a lot of time talking with Bishop Klein. Every discussion with Bishop eventually finds its way around to a gospel topic: at lunch we had an interesting discussion on what it means to have a "broken heart." We are so grateful for all that we have learned from him.
We love David and are so excited to have him as part of our family. Ben likes to watch sports with him and play "Tanks" with him on the Wii. He has fulfilled the role of brother for me many times, especially bringing his muscle to help me move into our apartment while Ben was in Nauvoo.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. David and Lauren Januszewski!

"Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo"

Ben had a lot of great experiences in Nauvoo. I read through some of his journal entries and will try to summarize what he did for the last two weeks. Things that are italicized are Ben's words and thoughts.

For his third year, Ben traveled to Nauvoo, Illinois with Vocal Point. The group performs there next to the temple every night for two weeks, as well as making daily trips out to surrounding cities. It is almost a mini-mission for them because they get to share the message of the Gospel through music and through their examples.

Some of the fun highlights of the trip include:

-a tour of Carthage jail, where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred-A tour through the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois-a session through the Nauvoo temple-watching performances by the Young Performing Missionaries in Nauvoo-tours through museums about Mark Twain in Hannibal, Missouri and a walk through the actual cave he writes about in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer"-playing Frisbee with kids in the area during the precious little down-time that they did have-a chance to learn from people in Bentonsport, Illinois who live off of the land and have a simple yet sweet outlook on life

The best part about Vocal Point taking this trip to Nauvoo is that every day and every activity is filled with spiritual experiences that help their testimonies grow. After almost every performance, someone would approach them and share an amazing conversion story or express gratitude for the wonderful feelings that they felt while listening to them sing. Ben feels so blessed to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord and to be a part of this missionary effort.
Ben's visit to Carthage was personally inspiring. Even though he had been there before, this trip was especially poignant. When we got to the room where he was martyred, the guide mentioned that Joseph put his arm out for a pillow for one of his companions and said that all he wanted to do was see his family one more time and preach one last time to the saints. He didn't have any guile towards those that held him, and he was always looking out for his friends. We sang "Lead Kindly Light" and a huge emotion just fell over me. I truly mourned the Prophet of the Restoration.

Perhaps the most memorable and inspiring moments were the spiritual and personal interactions that he had with the other members of the group. Because they all have a deep love for the Savior and understanding of the Gospel, Ben loves having conversations with them about Gospel principles. I love having a testimony meeting with Vocal Point. That is definitely the highlight of the Nauvoo trip. It is a time when all jokes are set aside and everyone is able to express their most personal feelings to the group. We become so close and our relationships so strong.

Ben's three years in Vocal Point have had their challenging times and fun times, but every bit of it has been wonderful. I feel the same way I did at the end of my mission. I have done my best and am satisfied with the work I've done in Vocal Point. I am excited to enter into a new phase of my life and am willing to do whatever the Lord has prepared for me.

Here and There and Everywhere!

Ben and I made it home safely from , with absolutely no exciting events. It was so nice: 10 hours each day, no rush. We were pretty entertained by the seventh installment of the Harry Potter series and Jim Dale's amazing vocal talents. "Harryyyyyyyyyy......"

Unfortunately, Ben had to turn around again the next morning and leave for . Vocal Point does a two-week tour there every August, and Ben was really looking forward to it. He has enjoyed his first week there and has already had so many amazing experiences! I'll leave it up to him to blog about it when he gets home. :)

My experience here in with the parentals has been not quite the same. Everyone here is frantically trying to get last minute things done for my sister's upcoming wedding. It is chaos! Decorating the house, bridesmaid dresses, sleeping arrangements for guests, and other things are causing the usual pre-wedding grief. :)

Aside from being involved in all of the wedding preparations, I have also been trying to move our things into our new apartment in . BY MYSELF. It is really not fun. I'm not very strong. The other day it took me 1 1/2 hours to carry stuff up from the basement and pack it into my car. Luckily, David was able to help me unload, and did it in about 10 minutes! It was very much appreciated. I've discovered that KSL classifieds can be a great resource to furnish an entire apartment. "Mommy WOW! I own furniture now!" However, there are still a few things that I want to get at (home furnishing heaven). And we're even considering getting a new TV because ours is broken.

This week: back to school to set up my classroom and finalize schedules and lesson plans. Oh ya, and faculty meetings... epitome of boredom!

Schlitterbahn!

USAA took all of their interns to Schlitterbahn for an activity and I got to go along!Schlitterbahn is said to be the largest waterpark in the world! In German, Schlitterbahn means "slippery road", and that is the perfect description for this place. They have water everywhere! Even standing in line for a slide, you may be in a pool of water up to your ankles, or have waterfalls cascading down on you. They have giant wave pools and even a lazy river that sends waves through it.

They also have watercoasters. Basically, it is a waterslide that is like a rollercoaster! They shoot you up a hill, and then you slide down it really fast! Very fun, but also very popular. We had to wait in line for 2 hours to go on one! We had more fun doing the smaller slides, with old fashioned black tubes that are so huge, you can fall out of the bottom of them. :)

Obviously it's hard to carry a camera around when you are constantly getting wet, so they have photographers that roam the park, take your picture, and then give you a number so you can buy them at a booth before you leave. That's how we got these fun pictures of us. It was a great day and we definitely want to go back again and try the many slides that we didn't have time to do in one day. Hey Mom, I've got an idea for a family vacation next summer!!

Riverwalk

Last Saturday we decided that we couldn't leave San Antonio without having a real Riverwalk experience. So we drove downtown and took a boat tour. We got a brief history of the downtown area and the Riverwalk and Ben took some pictures of the surrounding architecture for a presentation that he has at the end of his internship.
We decided that our downtown experience wouldn't be complete without eating lunch along the river, so we stopped at one of my favorite restaurants, Chili's. We got a table outside, next to the river and listened to a live Peruvian band play some awesome music! Here is a short sample of what we heard (note that the quality of the music is diminished when recorded on a point-and-shoot camera...it was much better in person!):

There were a couple of downsides to eating outside:
-Pidgeons everywhere! They were trying to get free hand-outs. A family got up to leave and before the bus boy could get there to clear it off, the pidgeons swarmed the table and started feasting on the leftovers!
-Smokers.

HOWEVER, there were also some great things about our lunch:
-It was nicer to eat outside on a shaded patio than inside with the A/C turned up way too high.
-The live band outside was way cooler than the radio inside.
-The food was awesome. What could be better than a large green salad on a hot day? Yum!
-The dessert made everything worth it! A chocolate chip cookie cake, chocolate fudge, and vanilla ice cream with a chocolately shell all on the same plate? HEAVEN!
I love this picture of us. And I love my husband! We have so much fun together. It is wonderful to be married to my best friend. Thanks for such a fun day, sweetheart!

Six Flags Fun

We decided to get season passes to Six Flags during our stay here. This was a great move, because we can show up at the park around 6 or 7 after Ben gets off work and miss all of the crowds. We can go on a few rides and then go home. I like it because it is usually very hot, and I don't want to be there for more than a couple of hours. We have been averaging trips about once a week, sometimes twice. We have our favorite ride, "The Roadrunner Express", and have a general idea of where all the rides are in the park.


We have also been to the water park for a day. The locker rentals are kind of expensive, but worth it. They put a bracelet on your wrist that has a scanner thingy in it. Anytime you want to open your locker, you put your bracelet in front of a scanner and your locker pops open! We thought it was pretty cool. Our favorite slides were the "Tornado", where you shoot out of a tube and then spin back and forth down a funnel, and the "Toilet Bowl" (as we affectionately called it), where you spin around and around until you come out of a drain at the bottom.


We decided to treat ourselves and get some antique photos. They dressed us up in these fun clothes and we got some cute pictures.

We also had to make sure to see the laser light and fireworks show. Unfortunately, the show was poor quality, but it was still fun. We got a little history of Texas ("Remember the Alamo!") and learned about some of the famous people (mostly country music singers) and sports teams (Cowboys, Spurs, Rockets, etc.) that have come from Texas.

Happy 4th of July!

Chris and Maria invited us to visit their family's lake house for the holiday. It was really fun to get to know their family better and spend some time on the boat.

Ben and I tried tubing our first day there, but after a few minutes I was done. Too much for me...
Chris convinced us to get up at 6am on the 4th to go out on the boat just as the sun was coming up. This was to ensure we could get really calm water and it would not be really crowded. It was so worth it! The lake was beautiful in the early morning and everyone was able to get some good wakeboarding in. Ben rocked it! (The video is a little bumpy... it was hard to hold the camera steady on a speeding boat!)

Ben even got to drive the boat for a little bit so that Maria could get pictures of Chris on the wakeboard.Ben also got to play a lot of tennis with Chris and worked up a sweat. Finally, a challenging opponent! I played games, went for a bike ride, and watched a sappy movie with Maria. :)

For lunch I made some "Fireworks" drinks that were a total hit! I made red and blue Kool-Aid and froze them to make ice cubes. Then we put Sprite in our glasses and watched the colored ice cubes make cool bubbles in our drinks! I also made these really yummy desserts.They are chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese frosting and strawberries and a blueberry: red, white, and blue! Maria made some delicious salmon-burgers. I am considering switching to those anytime I make burgers. They are so good, and so much better for you!

We had an awesome 4th of July and even got to see some fireworks on the lake. Thanks to the Payne family for such a fun time!